Why I Love You
by Raven and Writing Desks
Summary: I had always heard about you. The demon child, the troublemaker, the one without any parents. The boy that everybody else saw as a nuisance, I saw as a knight in shining armor.


**A/N: **_This fic was inspired by episode 166 of Shippuden. I've had the idea in mind for a while, but just finally got around to typing it up. Enjoy :)_

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**Why I Love You**

I was walking through the village with my caretaker, Kō.

That's when I first saw you.

You had been tearing through the marketplace acting like the child you were. Then the vendors in the market started saying horrible things about you, at the time I didn't understand. I mean, sure you were loud but you were just a child, a lonely one at that. Why would anyone want to be so cruel to you?

I thought you would cry, that's what I would've done. But no, you surprised me you just told everybody to wait and see, that you'd be Hokage one day.

You didn't let their words faze you. You didn't accept what they said to be true simply because you believed in your heart that you could do it. That was what first caught my eye about you. When I tried to learn more about this crazy blonde kid that had made such an impact on me Kō told me to stay away and not concern myself with you, but I couldn't help it.

Your personality, your smile, your determination, I kept thinking about them and secretly wanted to be just like you.

I was always a good girl, timid and shy, but good. I wanted to grow up to be a great shinobi and thought that if I just obediently followed my parents that I could achieve the strength of my father and kindness of my mother. But, did _I _really want that, or did I just want the approval of my parents?

I started training with my father. It was difficult and often ended with me on the verge of passing out. The way he would look at me afterwards, disappointment etched on his face, it made me feel worthless.

Kō saw how disheartened I was after these sparring sessions. He told me that it was just because Father had such high hopes for me. I understood, I mean he is my father; of course he only wants what's best for me, it still hurt though.

That's when Kō decided to show me the academy. Looking at the large doors made me feel so tiny. I never thought that I'd be able to make it there. So many other children would be much better than me. How would I be able to make it through the lessons when I could barely make it through a sparing session with my father?

That's when I saw you again, except this time there was no smile on your face. You were just slowly swaying back and forth on that wooden swing. All alone, just like before. Were you thinking about the academy too? Were you scared?

I couldn't even imagine somebody as determined as you being nervous about entering the academy. After all, you wanted to be the Hokage, nobody was telling you that you had to be, quite the opposite in fact. Becoming Hokage was your passion and while I dare not say it then, I truly believed that you could do it.

Again I asked about you, and again I got told to stay away, but in all honesty, that only made me want to be closer with you.

While at first my father thought nothing of my frailty in training, that soon changed once my sister started. He realized that I was simply weak. My age and gender were not holding me back, my body was. And he could not bear to have the heir of the clan be a weakling. That shake of his head was all it took for me to realize that I was just a disappointment to him, so I ran.

I didn't know where I was going and frankly, I didn't care. I just needed out of the compound and away from the disapproving eyes of my father. Tears clouded my vision and my head hung down in shame, so I never saw those boys.

When they started bullying I didn't know what to do. They started accusing me of being stuck up about my talent I just wanted to tell them, 'What talent?', I was not the proud heir of my respectful clan, I was the biggest disappointment.

All I could do was cry and apologize to the boys, to my father, to Kō, to the entire Hyuuga clan, and to myself. I thought I deserved to be treated like that, I felt so worthless.

Then you showed up.

The boy that everybody else saw as the troublemaking demon child, I saw as a knight in shining armor. Those boys belittled you and called you names, but you didn't care. You didn't let them tell you what you could do. Even after they kept laughing at you, you wouldn't give up.

You showed me that _I _get to choose who I want to be. I determine my own value and worth. Not the village, not my clan, nobody but myself can tell me who to be.

Afterwards when Kō dragged me away and you were just lying on the ground, I wanted to stay and make sure you were all right. I wanted to thank you for saving me from those boys, for saving me from myself.

You made me stronger, Naruto. You showed me the way. You saved me and I can never repay you for that. Do your best and I know you can prove everybody wrong. I know you can become Hokage.

This is why I'll sacrifice myself for you now. This is why I love you.


End file.
